So how did the abductor enter and leave the apartment?

[sadie]

Having had a chance to read back through posts I find the comments in Rachel's statement relating to Matthew quite interesting.

Could it indeed be the case that Matthew didn't enter apartment 5a on the first occasion on the evening of Tuesday 3rd May because the patio shutter was down?

Similarly, was he able to enter the apartment on the second visit as the shutter was up?

If this is correct then someone lifted the shutter between his two visits.  The only person we know of who visited the apartment in the intervening period was Gerry McCann.

I am finding this discussion about the shutters very interesting.  Cos if the shutters were closed, they had to be lifted *somehow?) each time there was a check, so the sound to anyone like Mrs Fenn must have been VERY familiar.

Also if the shutters were down, then when they were raised, the light that had been left on in the sitting room would instantly become noticeable to the Tapas 9.

I do not believe that any intruder would even think for one moment of raising shutters, with any noise caused by that, and in the knowledge that he would be fully silhouetted against that sitting room light.

With those problems, any one thinking of entering that way, would instantly ditch the idea.  No wonder Amaral when he made a statement, attempting to justify his "died in apartment" theory, commented that no abductor would have gone in via the steps and patio door; at 50 metres too close to the Tapas group.

[Albertini]

There are 2 shutters on that patio door, not one, as it looks in the photo. One could have been left up, the other one left closed.

Mathew Oldfield used the patio door, on his check.

"To this end, he took the quickest route between ROB's apartment and the side garden gate entrance to the rear patio of the McCann residence, to which he gained access through the glass sliding door into the apartment lounge. The door was closed but not locked as KM had said it would be".

Possibly viable had Rachael's statement not specifically said:

The window shutters of the McCann's apartment were closed. The patio door that they used to enter the apartment also had its shutter closed. In order to enter they had to raise the shutter.

www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/RACHAEL-OLDFIELD-11-MAY07.htm#p5p1292

[AnneGuedes]

Some curiously don't seem or want to understand that, without solid evidence, SY, whether it is the best police on the planet or was, has no power to bypass the AG's report and turn the McCann doxa into a fact.

[Albertini]

I am finding this discussion about the shutters very interesting.  Cos if the shutters were closed, they had to be lifted *somehow?) each time there was a check, so the sound to anyone like Mrs Fenn must have been VERY familiar.

Also if the shutters were down, then when they were raised, the light that had been left on in the sitting room would instantly become noticeable to the Tapas 9.

I do not believe that any intruder would even think for one moment of raising shutters, with any noise caused by that, and in the knowledge that he would be fully silhouttted against that sitting room light.

With those problems, any one thinking of entering that way, would instantly ditch the idea.  No woder Amaral when he made a statement, attempting to justify his "died in apartment" theory, commented that no abductor would have gone in via the steps and patio door; at 50 metres too close to the Tapas group.

So given this, do we believe that entry via the patio doors on that night is out of the question?

I'm now trying to get a handle on the front door which Gerry said he walked in through using his key in his first statement.

I believe there were 4 sets of key in existence (this is an area of the case i have not seen much about).  Do we know who had them and whether at any point any of the owner's reported them lost, stolen or missing?

[sadie]

So given this, do we believe that entry via the patio doors on that night is out of the question?

I'm now trying to get a handle on the front door which Gerry said he walked in through using his key in his first statement.

I believe there were 4 sets of key in existence (this is an area of the case i have not seen much about).  Do we know who had them and whether at any point any of the owner's reported them lost, stolen or missing?

If the patio door shutters were down, then it seems highly unlikely that there was entry via the patio doors becos of noise and the fact that whoever enterd would be silhouetted against the living room lighting.  Also the tapas 9 would sure notice the shutters going up as the living room light quickly filled the gap


What troubles me about this is that only a few hours ago, we were talking about the Mccanns closing the curtains behind them as they exited the apartment.  So has one of them got it wrong?

Why would they have needed to close the curtains if there were closed shutters?  No reason.


Someone has it wrong.  Either that or the situation changed during the evening.  From shutters closed to no shutters and curtains closed.


I still maintain that the only sensible way in for an abductor is via the front door using a key.  There is recent history of that in adjoining apartments.  It is also in a dark corner and completely out of sight to anyone entering the parking area then walking across to the centre of Block 5 ready to take the walled walkways to various apartments.

[Chinagirl]

Some curiously don't seem or want to understand that, without solid evidence, SY, whether it is the best police on the planet or was, has no power to bypass the AG's report and turn the McCann doxa into a fact.

Of course they can - the AG's report is not Holy Writ!  SY have the advantage of far better resources than were (are) available in Portugal, and fresher minds.  It seems that abduction without any parental complicity is the crime they have settled on.

[AnneGuedes]

Of course they can - the AG's report is not Holy Writ!  SY have the advantage of far better resources than were (are) available in Portugal, and fresher minds.  It seems that abduction without any parental complicity is the crime they have settled on.

Yes it seems it is, Chinagirl. I was just reminding SY'll have to bring solid evidence,  because the AG's report is not "holy writ", but authority in this case. Of course any strong evidence will be aknowlegded by the AG, no doubt about that.

[John]

Possibly viable had Rachael's statement not specifically said:

The window shutters of the McCann's apartment were closed. The patio door that they used to enter the apartment also had its shutter closed. In order to enter they had to raise the shutter.

The patio door shutter is not designed to be opened from the outside which renders her comment somewhat suspect.

[John]

I must say in all honesty that I fail to see how anyone could possibly forget what method of entry they used to gain access to their apartment when the choice was a simple one. 

1. Front door requiring a long walk around the block and a key to effect entry or...

2. Patio door which was much closer and was unlocked.

Remembering too that he was asked a matter of hours after the event when this information would have been fresh in his memory.

[Albertini]

The patio door shutter is not designed to be opened from the outside which renders her comment somewhat suspect.

But it ties in with Gerry's first statement on the 4th May when he said he entered by the front door using his key.

If the shutter was indeed down then he would have had to enter by the front door. Now it may have been at this point that Gerry opened the patio shutter but he does not mention that, and then of course his next statement changes to entering by the patio door.

I would have thought had Gerry's first statement said he entered by the patio door then it would have raised doubt about Rachael Oldfield's statement but her comment on this issue (on which is she is very specific on this point) coupled with that inexplicable change of entry point in Gerry's statements raises a red flag worthy of investigation.

Added to that the open window and shutter, which makes no sense for an abductor to use or open, a hypothesis could be formed which suggests entry points are being created.

[sadie]

Have you taken account of the absolute confusion and over-riding terror that would be in his mind, John?  Albertini?  [sorry John]

Six weeks after my son died, I was mentally not ready for work.  Still kinda shell shocked.  But it was a new job that had generously been kept open for me for half a term, as I waited for my son to die and until I 'got over' my sons death.  And my first real job after qualifying as a teacher.  At a school that i liked.   I had to start at that new half term or lose the job.

I was mainly teaching Art and a lot of equipment and teaching aids needing carrying.   It was a regular occurance that I would go up two flights of stairs to have a completely blank brain by the time I reached the stores.  Also I was not as safe on the road as normal, so I kept away from driving .

Every aspect of my life was affected.  It was dreadful.

I have also been in the situation where a gross injustice has been done to me.  That created brain overdrive.  Mind compulsively racing, unable to sleep, thoughts jerking all over the place.  That affected most aspects of my life too.

Gerry and Kate had both aspects of this.  The loss of a child + the injustice of a stranger stealing her + the worry of what had happened to her./  Was she being abused?

I cant imagine what that did to their brains and emotions. 




I truly think that Gerry should not be judged too harshly for any mistakes he made, especially in his early statements.  His mind was in a jumble.  At a guess, blank in places and racing in other places

Psychologically in a jumble.  Only my thoughts but based upon personal experiences.

[Carana]

I must say in all honesty that I fail to see how anyone could possibly forget what method of entry they used to gain access to their apartment when the choice was a simple one. 

1. Front door requiring a long walk around the block and a key to effect entry or...

2. Patio door which was much closer and was unlocked.

Remembering too that he was asked a matter of hours after the event when this information would have been fresh in his memory.

Someone got muddled: either Gerry, the "interpreter" or the police officer.

Don't forget that Gerry would not have been able to read the statement for himself. It isn't even clear whether the interpreter translated it for him or not.

Although Gerry could have got muddled in the general panic / lack of sleep, etc., or lied as some people seem to think, I doubt it as he then mentions Matt's check via the unlocked patio door in the same statement. If he had said that, the officer should have asked him why he went the long way around when the patio door was unlocked.

In any case, it got corrected in his second statement.

[Benice]

Someone got muddled: either Gerry, the "interpreter" or the police officer.

Don't forget that Gerry would not have been able to read the statement for himself. It isn't even clear whether the interpreter translated it for him or not.

Although Gerry could have got muddled in the general panic / lack of sleep, etc., or lied as some people seem to think, I doubt it as he then mentions Matt's check via the unlocked patio door in the same statement. If he had said that, the officer should have asked him why he went the long way around when the patio door was unlocked.

In any case, it got corrected in his second statement.

I agree Carana.  One of the biggest obstacles for the McCanns during this whole case was the language barrier.
At that very first interview IMO there was universal confusion and misunderstandings about doors and keys. 

It was mentioned by the Police officer conducting JTs rogatory statement that some people had referred to the door facing the car park as the back door -  and the patio door as the front door and that  had caused confusion previously   - as other people did it the opposite way round.

She suggested they called one door the 'roadside door' and the other the 'poolside door' to avoid a repetition of that confusion.

IIRC There was a discussion here recently about 4/5 ex British policemen going over to PDL to 'investigate' the case?     I distinctly remember that they referred to the patio door as the front door etc.     Personally I have never thought of the door facing the car park as anything other than the front door.

IMO when Gerry received a written English translation of his first statement, he then corrected the misunderstanding.

[Albertini]

Someone got muddled: either Gerry, the "interpreter" or the police officer.

Don't forget that Gerry would not have been able to read the statement for himself. It isn't even clear whether the interpreter translated it for him or not.

Although Gerry could have got muddled in the general panic / lack of sleep, etc., or lied as some people seem to think, I doubt it as he then mentions Matt's check via the unlocked patio door in the same statement. If he had said that, the officer should have asked him why he went the long way around when the patio door was unlocked.

In any case, it got corrected in his second statement.

Which is why a reconstruction would have been vital, to highlight these "muddles" and then hopefully explain and remove them.

This would, i am sure, have reduced / removed the PJ's suspicion of the parent's involvement.

From the theory put forward by the PJ they suspected the group did not want to take part in a reconstruction because the group did not want to highlight or explain these "muddles", the PJ wondered why they would not want to do that which undoubtedly added to the suspicion against the McCann's in the PJ's minds.

Which is why i am still gobsmacked that the group did not want to do it given it would have removed a huge tranche of suspicion against the Mccann's in the PJ's minds. 

[Carana]

I agree Carana.  One of the biggest obstacles for the McCanns during this whole case was the language barrier.
At that very first interview IMO there was universal confusion and misunderstandings about doors and keys. 

It was mentioned by the Police officer conducting JTs rogatory statement that some people had referred to the door facing the car park as the back door -  and the patio door as the front door and that  had caused confusion previously   - as other people did it the opposite way round.

She suggested they called one door the 'roadside door' and the other the 'poolside door' to avoid a repetition of that confusion.

IIRC There was a discussion here recently about 4/5 ex British policemen going over to PDL to 'investigate' the case?     I distinctly remember that they referred to the patio door as the front door etc.     Personally I have never thought of the door facing the car park as anything other than the front door.

IMO when Gerry received a written English translation of his first statement, he then corrected the misunderstanding.

Some people tend to forget the initial general chaos and assume that everything in those early statements was accurate.